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The university announced Thursday evening that Jeffries decided to step down as head coach and manager of football operations for the Golden Hawks.

“I felt the time was right to make this decision,” Jeffries said in a statement.

“Laurier has been my home, my work and my family for over 40 years but the time has come to pass the torch. It will be very difficult to not be on the sidelines come September next year but I know this decision is right for me and for the football program.”

The resignation comes after a miserable season in which Laurier creaked into the playoffs with a 3-5 record, but failed to score a touchdown in the final month of its schedule. The Hawks were shut out 34-0 by Queen’s University last Saturday in an Ontario conference quarterfinal game.

Jeffries, 66, still had one season remaining on his contract with Laurier. Last week, prior to the playoff loss, he said he planned to honour his contract and come back for another season.

“Gary is leaving behind a great tradition of success with Golden Hawk football,” Peter Baxter, Laurier’s director of athletics and recreation, said in a news release.

“He has always been a fierce competitor and wanted to win more than anyone else on the field. The success that he brought to Laurier will leave a lasting legacy, one that we will ensure is continued moving forward.”

Jeffries had a role with the football team for 35 years, including the last 10 as head coach.

As head coach, he compiled a record of 69 wins and 31 losses and led Laurier to a national championship in 2005, when the Hawks won the Vanier Cup by a score of 24-23 over the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Before becoming the head coach in 2003, Jeffries served for 17 seasons as the Hawks defensive co-ordinator. A former defensive back with the Hawks, he started his coaching career in 1973 when he assumed responsibility for the defensive line and linebackers.

Jeffries also was the head coach of Laurier’s men’s basketball team for eight years, from 1989-90 to 1996-97, and head coach of the women’s basketball team for five years, from 1984-85 to 1988-89.

Baxter said Laurier will begin a national search to find a new head coach for the football team.

“It is now our goal to find a new leader who will build upon the legacy that Gary is leaving behind,” he said